Fast Facts About Waterloo Region

At the end of 2016 an estimated 583,500 people were living in Waterloo Region. This includes university and college students temporarily living in the region.

About 60,940 post-secondary students attend Conestoga College, University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University. An estimated 31,030 are temporary residents close to their campus, while their primary place of residence remains elsewhere, typically at the home of their parents.

Among the region's major private sector employers are Blackberry, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Sun Life Financial, Manulife Financial, Challenger Motor Freight, Home Hardware Head Office, Loblaw Companies Ltd. and Automation Tooling Systems (ATS). Major public sector employers include Waterloo Region District School Board, Region of Waterloo, University of Waterloo, Grand River Hospital, Waterloo Catholic District School Board, City of Kitchener, St. Mary's General Hospital, Cambridge Memorial Hospital, Wilfrid Laurier University, Conestoga College and City of Waterloo.

More than 400 high-tech firms operate in Waterloo Region. In addition to Blackberry, the list includes Descartes Systems, Open Text, Google, Maplesoft, Dalsa, MKS and more.

CMHC reports that the average home price in Kitchener-Waterloo in 2014 was $337,806. In Cambridge the average was $321,549.